Safety Metrics for the Modern Safety Professional

1 We Manage What We Measure

We Manage What We Measure.

C. Gary Lopez

Perhaps one of the most-often used paraphrased quotes about metrics in business is attributed to Peter Drucker. Why do I say paraphrased? Unfortunately, for Peter, his original quote, which made an excellent point regarding all metrics in use in any management system, is also one of the most misquoted of his quotes. His exact quote was “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Over the years this got paraphrased into “You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” or “You manage what you measure.” I will join that long list of those paraphrasing the quote with “We Manage What We Measure.”

I submit that the “misquotes” are more catchy. More to the point, they all illustrate ...